The topic for this month is - Indie or Not? Some of us have tried both. Some are one or the other. What do you like about being traditionally published? What do you like about being an Indie or a contrast if you've done both?
My first experience of Indie publishing was also my
last. However, I have to say that if it had not been for that first foray into
the great unknown world of Indie publishing, I might not have been published at
all. Few people knew about self-publishing back then, circa 2010. Articles on
self-publishing cropped up in trade magazines and nascent online forums, but I
honestly believe my writing group was way ahead of the game.
Spearheaded by our president, who said she could write
a book with anyone, we created a town, characters, and plot lines. And so
the Bandit Creek project began. We could ‘borrow’ anyone’s characters, and each
story had to include the mysterious character, Jack. The project covered all
genres to accommodate such a diverse group of writers. Our fictitious western town was
founded in 1867 after a gold strike and ran through to the present day,
so the project covered all genres to accommodate such a diverse group of
writers. From historical to sweet romance, paranormal and mystery, we published
two books every month, on the first and fifteenth, for twelve months.
The Bandit Creek project served many of us well, some not so much. Several writers dropped out altogether after the fact. Some, like myself, kept writing. I didn’t want to repeat what, to me, was a stressful process, so I looked for a traditional publisher when my next book, a Regency romance, was completed. My first attempt at signing on with an agent was short-lived. I met her at a writers’ conference, and after my pitch, she invited me to send her the full manuscript, which I did. It came back with a ‘love, love, love your writing’ comment, but she suggested I add a strong sub-plot and re-submit. As encouraging as that was, six months had passed by the time I did that (I am not a fast writer) and resubmitted. In the first instance, she responded two weeks after my submission; the second time, I received a thank you note from her assistant the day following my submission, with a comment that the agent ‘could not connect with my writing.’ Go figure.
I tidied up the manuscript, and after receiving a
positive response to a query letter I sent to an editor at Kensington Press in
New York, I sent it off again. I received a gushing response from the entry
editor, who said that as far as he was concerned, it was publication-ready, and
he was sending it ‘upstairs.’ I took that to mean it was going on to a
more experienced editor. Then Hurricane Sandy hit, shutting New York City down
for weeks.
Now, not being a spring chicken, I was not prepared to
wait for months, maybe a year or more, and watch another birthday or two come
around before knowing if Kensington Press would say yea or nay, so I found
another publisher. After listening to my pitch, she asked if I would send the
book to her. I did. Three days later, I was offered publication. Ten days
later, the book became available as an Amazon Kindle e-book, and I’ve been
with that publisher ever since.
Several of my writer friends are totally
self-published. They love working with a cover artist, finding
editors, uploading their manuscripts, and being almost fully
reimbursed for their efforts. They can check their Kindle account and see how
their sales are progressing or where their books are being sold. They like
being in the captain’s chair and having total control.
But, speaking for myself, I’m not so adventurous and
don’t mind paying a percentage of my sales to have all that work done for me. Had I been
younger when I started writing and publishing, I’m not sure what my attitude
would have been. Right now, I’m happy to stick with what I know best: the writing. I wonder what my Round Robin colleagues will have to say.
Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-3l0
Diane Bator https://escapewithawriter.wordpress.com/
Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea